What You Can Expect From the Market During the Pandemic

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As we begin the week of March 23, there are now over 300,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and over 14,000 deaths globally. Even with billions being told to stay home and avoid group activities, the confirmed totals continue to rise exponentially each day. As the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to dominate the news, I sifted through some of the top headlines from over the weekend to give you a better idea of what’s going on from an economic perspective.

Here’s what you need to know:

This pandemic is hurting the economy in four different ways: supply chain failures, direct effects of illness in lost work, indirect effects of quarantines and travel restrictions (i.e., struggling restaurant and airline businesses), and the loss of jobs and profit from small businesses.

Our economy is facing uncharted waters. Most experts agree that we’re headed for a recession, but what we’re facing is unlike anything we’ve seen in the past. We’ve gone from a “full speed ahead” mindset in January to a full-on freeze in March.

Congress and the White House continue to finalize an economic stimulus bill that’s approaching $2 trillion. By comparison, the stimulus package that President Obama signed in 2008 was for $831 billion.

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams told NBC’s Today “I want America to understand– this week, it’s going to get bad.” We really, really need everyone to stay at home. The federal government has activated the U.S. National Guard in three of the hardest-hit states (California, Washington, New York). Almost half of all U.S. cases are in New York state.

Even though the immediate future appears bleak, there are still some promising signs around Nashville. For example: We put three of our listings under contract last week and helped 2 different buyers secure their next home.

If you have any questions for me or if I can assist you in any way, don’t hesitate to reach out via phone or email today. I’m here to help.